SunPower Corporation (SPWR) Stock Jumps On “Buy” Rating

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) shares gained more than 5% on today’s market after the company received a rather fetching Buy rating from Brean Capital in a report released before market open on Tuesday. The report put a price target of $32 on the solar company, and shares have hit a high of more than $29 earlier on today.

The solar industry appears to be gaining ground once again in 2014 after a good showing last year. SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR), which makes high-tech solar panels, is at the bleeding edge of much of what the industry in the United States is doing, and has a deserved place in the portfolio of anyone betting on solar as part of the country’s energy future.

SunPower earnings expected to show “compelling growth”

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) will release its earnings numbers for the first quarter of 2014 on April 24 after the market closes on Wall Street. The Brean Capital report records little reason to think the company’s quarter was particularly positive or negative, though that doesn’t mean the company is destined to be unimpressive.

The firm’s price target of $32 is based on what the analysts see as a mispricing of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR). According to this morning’s report the equity “doesn’t fully reflect both the underlying improvements in end markets and profitability.”

A report on the solar panel maker from TheStreet.com offers similar analysis. According to the take of the analysts over there, SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) positives include “its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and largely solid financial position.”

Solar volatility keeps SunPower investors active

The companies that dominate talk about the solar industry tend to have high multiples. The industry is one of burgeoning potential rather than windfall profits, and that means taking high risk for future reward. The nervousness of investors in an area like solar leads to volatility, and that has kept SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) investors on their toes in recent months.

Shares in SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) rose to a height of more than $37 back in March before sinking back below $30 on the 2014 momentum bust. The company’s stock has delivered great ups and downs to investors in the last decade, and have still not recovered form the losses they suffered during the financial crisis. A bubble in the value of several solar companies in the run up to the chaos of that event drove many investors from energy speculation.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) is expected to show earnings of 32 cents per share on Thursday according to a poll of 15 analysts following the company. The poll, which was carried out by Businessweek, found that the same group of analysts were expecting the company to show revenue of $668 million for the first quarter.